Lian Harper: Masked
by FarmingPirate
Summary: Lian Harper hadn't seen her mother since she was a toddler. If it wasn't for the pictures of the woman scattered around her house she wouldn't even remember what her mother looked like. One day she discovers a hint towards a past she had no idea existed. A hint in the form of a smiling mask.


"Three in the morning!" The voice shouted from behind the door which soon burst open. The red-headed man pointed towards his daughter, "Three in the morning you came home! You said you would be here by eleven thirty."

Lian groaned and pulled the sheets up over her head.

"I'm sick of this Lian. I really am." Her father added, "I try my best, I do. But you constantly push your limits. They're there for a reason."

"I know. I'm sorry…" Lian murmured.

Her father grimaced and then released a large defeated sigh, "Breakfast is downstairs when you want it, I have something I need to deal with."

Will slowly closed the door and his footsteps disappeared behind it away from his daughters' room.

"Mia, you can come out now," Lian spoke aloud.

"Does he know?" the other girl replied as she shuffled from out underneath the bed.

"He knows."

The short blonde girl huffed and fell onto the bed, "is he going to tell my parents?" she asked in worry, but Lian only replied in a laugh. "What's so funny?" Mia quickly snapped back.

Lian's smile faded, "There was a small explosion a few streets away from one of his deposits. You staying the night is the last thing on his mind."

**_Earlier…_**

_Jab, jab, kick, jab, kick. Thud._

"Damnit."

_Jab, jab, kick, kick, jab, kick. Thud._

"God damnit."

_"The footing. It must be the footing that is all wrong!" _Lian screamed inside her mind. She was beginning to grow more and more frustrated and angry at the punching bag for messing up her training. It definitely wasn't her own fault that she can't seem to land after a mid-air kick. Instead, it was that dastardly red and beaten-down and duct-taped punching bag that was stopping her from her success.

Lian decided that it was probably time for a break, so she grabbed her small towel and wiped the sweat from her face before draping it over one of her shoulders and taking a swig of water from her nearby bottle. The black-haired teen stared at the ceiling of the basement as she led down in her small but personal and barebones gym. It took a couple of years of convincing to be able to use the basement for herself as her father was deadest against it at first, and it wasn't even Lian who convinced him to let her have it. It was her Auntie, Artemis, who managed to talk him into letter her have it. Apparently, in Artemis' words, she simply just told him that it's a girl thing and that he wouldn't understand. Granted for Will, he tries his absolute hardest to understand and be there for Lian in those matters when Artemis wasn't there, but sometimes he knows when to step aside. Lian assumed this was one of those cases where her father stepped aside.

The teen released a huff as she pulled her torso from the ground and sat up. That's when she noticed something 'off' about this unused basement. There was a dirt patch. Or at least a 'lighter' and less tidy patch that didn't fit with the darker blue as it was a shade lighter and hastily painted. Lian leaned forward and crawled a few steps towards it with a curious gaze and an eyebrow lifted.

"The last time this place was painted was when I was a baby…" she murmured to herself, "which means this was touched again afterwards by someone."

Lian stepped to her feet and lined her boot up against the wall, and with a swift hard kick, and one more just to be sure… the square of paint collapsed revealing a wooden trunk. The curious teen kneeled and pulled it out from the wall leaving a trail of dust and cobwebs behind it. She pulled the stiff latch up from the front and the lid fell backwards releasing a light thud.

Planted on top of some red padded leather there was a picture of a group of superheroes. It was today's Justice League, only in this picture they were much younger. Teenagers just like she was. Lian carefully placed the picture beside her as she kneeled, she then pulled the red leather from the trunk and held it out in front of her and there was no mistaking it. This was the costume of 'Red Arrow' the first sidekick of Green Arrow. Was her dad… was he really the Red Arrow? It would explain a lot of things. Especially with how he trained her to look after herself.

Aside from her photos there were two more things. A black domino mask, and a white mask in the appearance of a smiling cat. None of this made sense.

"Lian, are you okay down there?!" Her father called from above, "I heard some banging," he added.

"Y-yeah!" His daughter replied, "Don't worry, it's nothing!"

"Shift your weight, you'll stop landing on your butt" her father advised. Lian rolled her eyes, of course he knew.

The teen grabbed both masks from the trunk as well as the picture and then placed it back into the wall. She stared at the damage she had caused and wondered how to fix it. She moved across the room and dragged a spare punching bag all the way from the other side and positioned it in front of the hole, dusting her hands afterwards.

Lian held the smiling mask in her hands and tried to force a smile as wide as the one in front of her. She quickly gave up the attempt and pouted, "Now that's just unrealistic."

_Bzz bzz _her phone sounded.

"Connect," Lian spoke, "Hey Mia," she then greeted.

"Two words: Party tonight. We gotta go!" her friend replied with glee.

Lian laughed, "at who's house and why?"

"It's at David's and because it'll be fun?" Mia answered with excitement.

"You really need to work on your type of guys."

"And you really need to work on that smile."

Lian tilted her head back and groaned before raising a middle finger towards one of the basement windows above her. When she turned her gaze towards the glass, she was met with the face of a blonde girl pressing her face against it with a wide grin.

"Now come let me in," Mia replied, "I brought a dress for you."

"Not a chance."

When she opened the door, she didn't even have a second to invite Mia into her home, her best friend simply breezed through as if she lived here herself. Well, she practically does. The two girls had known each other their entire lives, and they have both been through some very difficult hardships where they had to rely on each other. With Lian the usual was her father's safety with his security company. And with Mia… well, she has been through difficulties that even the strongest people would struggle with.

As Mia passed Lian with her hand hanging some dresses over her shoulder with one hand she passed her a small piece of paper with the other. Lian curiously took the piece of paper and looked closely towards it. It read: _If you need a date for the night, call me x_

Mia began to laugh at the bewildered look on Lian's face. "I have so many questions," Lian sighed, "but the most important one is why on Earth does this not have a number on it?"

"Right?!" Mia continued to laugh. "It's kinda cute though."

Lian closed the front door and released a small laugh alongside her friend. She turned to Mia and shook her head, "Come on, lets get this over with." She complained as she began to lead her friend up the stairs.

"Does Uncle Will know you're heading out tonight?" Mia asked as they both climbed the stairs. Lian smiled to herself. It was a simple thing hearing Mia refer to her father as her uncle, and despite how small of a gesture it is to use that term, it made Lian feel as though she had a bigger family out there apart from her dad and auntie. She had plenty of family friends, but Mia is the only person who is capable of being this close with Lian. They both understand each other at a level that nobody else would.

"Mia, I didn't even know we were heading out tonight," Lian teased.

"Good point," Mia pouted. "But will he let you go to the party?" she asked with a hopeful tone.

As the two girls moved through the hallway after reach the top of the stairs Lian looked over her shoulder towards Mia and released a small smile and a nod. "Of course!" she grinned. Mia pumped an arm in the air and cheered.

"But most likely on the condition that I look after you. Which of course I will," Lian spoke in a motherly tone as she opened the door to her bedroom.

"Thank you very much my lovely, old, ancient, and wise friend with your maternal talents," Mia sarcastically replied as she placed the dresses, she had been carrying on Lian's bed. "Now, pick one, I suggest the red one." The blonde spoke.

"Jeans and a t-shirt, that's as much effort as you're going to get from me," Lian admitted as if she couldn't care less.

"At least try them on!" Mia pleaded, to which Lian shook her head. Mia gave Lian her puppy-dog eyes look and Lian eventually gave in. "Fine," Lian complained, "but just the red one, and I am NOT wearing it."

A couple of hours passed and day turned into night. The two best friends had done absolutely nothing with the time in between apart from lie on Lian's bed and binge-watched a documentary series on both super-villains and wannabe villains. They absolutely adored these crime documentaries and they'd always get a kick out of hearing the goofy names that these villains went by.

Soon enough a knock sounded at the door and husky voice sounded from the other side of the door, "Girls, are you in there?" it asked. Lian's face lit up at the first word she heard, "Artemis!" she responded, "we're home!"

Artemis nudged the door open with her hip and entered the room with two brown bags from Happy Harbour Grill, the only semi-decent fast food join in the town. "Roy and I thought we'd bring you this after he picked me up" she smiled and then looked to Mia, "you two still eat the same food, right?" she asked as she handed them the food.

Mia smiled in return, "yeah! Thanks Artemis!" she grinned. The woman winked at Mia and noticed what they were watching on TV, "you guys know half of this stuff is made up for dramatics, right?" she asked with a slight chuckle. Lian raised an eyebrow, "so you're telling me the Condiment King wasn't the scourge of Gotham for 5 years straight?"

Artemis deadpanned, "yes. That is exactly what I'm telling you?"

"I don't believe you," Lian replied in a serious tone.

Lian and Artemis began to laugh. "Of course he wasn't" Lian chuckled. Mia gave agreement as she laughed shoveling a fistful of fries into her mouth. Artemis began to head to the door and waved goodbye to the two girls and before she shut the door Lian called her name after being nudged in the ribs from Mia, "Auntie Arty!" she called.

Artemis turned with a curious look on her face," What is it? You only call me Auntie when you want something from me?"

The black-haired girl started her sentence slowly, "So… uhm, Mia came round with a bunch of dresses and we were… uh" she began to nervously laugh, "we were wondering if you would let me go to a party tonight?"

"A party?" Artemis asked.

"Yes." Lian replied.

"Will there be alcohol?" the woman asked.

"Maybe? I don't know. But you know I wouldn't drink anyway, it would ruin my fitness," Lian tried to bargain. Artemis shook her head in disbelief, "please remind me how old you are again Missy?"

"Err… seventeen?" Lian sighed.

"Exactly," Artemis replied, "so no, you cannot go. Roy would kill me if I gave you permission."

Mia released a little sigh of disappointment and Lian's smile turned upside down.

"But," Artemis began again, "I can't necessarily stop you from sneaking out, can I?" she smirked before closing the door. To Artemis, a little teenage rebellion builds character.


End file.
